


Hikari

by omgimwritingfanfics



Series: self-indulgent kassalis [1]
Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: M/M, im so fucking weak, kassim why, very bittersweet (to me at least)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-02
Updated: 2015-01-02
Packaged: 2018-03-04 22:02:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3092330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/omgimwritingfanfics/pseuds/omgimwritingfanfics
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He was so bright, he reminded Kassim of the sun.</p><p>Shining.</p><p>Radiant.</p><p>Burning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hikari

**Author's Note:**

> i j ust needed to get these two out of my system fuckdammit
> 
> [named after kassim's character song. don't touch me.]

 

 

He was so bright, he reminded Kassim of the sun.  
  
     Shining.  
  
     Radiant.  
  
     Burning.  
  
     Sometimes when Kassim looked at him he saw his closest friend, the boy who had made cemented himself into Kassim's life without him actually realising it. Probably found a way through one of his secret tunnels.  
  
     But other times when Kassim looked at Alibaba, it seared him, painfully. Like the splash of hot oil on bare skin. He could never be as bright as Alibaba. He was already tainted and stained with blood that in his dreams, never came off his hands, no matter how hard he scrubbed his skin to the point where it was raw, to the point where his own blood mingled with his father's.  
  
 _Dirty._  
  
     He could never allow Alibaba to become the same as him, which was why he stole and mugged and even stabbed more men to death, even after Alibaba's mother took he and Mariam in and treated them with more gentleness than he could ever have imagined. Growing up, he made sure it wasn't Alibaba's hands that became streaked with red.  
  
     Then the king came, and the reason for Alibaba's purity became explained—to Kassim, at least. Royal blood. He should have guessed. He knew they were different, but not to this degree…and now his urge to be up on Alibaba's level was even stronger. He wanted, no, _needed_ , to surpass him.  
  
     "Get out of here."  
  
     His words, uttered so coldly, weren't a lie of how he felt. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than for Alibaba to leave, to just get the hell out of there and away from him.  
  
     The hatred faded after a while, but always simmered under his skin, nurtured by a hardened heart. Only Mariam could warm that heart, but then that disease swept through the slums.  
  
     He held her hand as she coughed up blood, choking and crying.  
  
     "It hurts, it—hurts, make…it stop— _please_!"  
  
     Utterly, utterly powerless.  
  
     "Mariam, shh, it'll be fine. It'll all be fine, just hold on, okay? You'll get through this."  
  
     Empty reassurances and what was worse, Kassim had the feeling she knew he was lying through his teeth and he was terrified. He could tell in the way her eyes, although bright with agony, softened. But that affectionate glance was stolen away in an instant as her eyes squeezed shut as another round of coughing racked her frail body.  
  
     Kassim clenched his jaw, trying to hold back his tears. Tears were no good, they made you weak, and whenever he had cried his father had beat him. His eyes burning, he glared out the window, to where he knew in the distance the palace stood, tall and arrogant amidst the dirt at its feet.  
  
  _It's the fault of those royals. Those pigs!_ The rage bloomed in him. The royalty didn't care an inch of what happened to his fellows in the slums. They trampled people like him to survive, eking out every bit of money they had in impossibly high taxes, and refusing to offer any sort of help. Was it he and his sister's fate to stay in the slums forever, suffering endlessly?  
  
 _No. It can't be!_  
  
     Every day Mariam became sicker and weaker, and every day Kassim's fury grew. How dare they. How dare Alibaba—did he not even care? About Kassim, about _Mariam_? When Kassim thought about it, of course it made sense. Alibaba was a royal. He wouldn't want to be tainted.  
  
     With Mariam's death and the destruction of the slums, the resentment in him exploded like a volcano's eruption. A dark, stinking poison oozed like blood from a wound, nurtured by the promise the man in the mask made.  
  
     Alibaba was like the sun, and Kassim would not allow himself to be burned any longer.  


 

* * *

  
  
When he saw Kassim again as leader of the Fog Troupe, Alibaba didn't know how to feel. Betrayed, surely, because of what had transpired the last time…but a much larger, undeniable part of him was _happy_. Stupid sentimentality, clinging to the past like that…  
  
     He couldn't help it. Even as he felt the shame of the last memory he had of Kassim where he had allowed himself to be so completely used as a way into the palace, he looked at Kassim and thought _friend. Companion. Always._  
  
     He was stupid, but then he had always been so foolishly optimistic.  
  
     And when Kassim greeted him with little to no hostility, he felt his heart lighten from a weight he didn't know it had. Maybe they could go back to the way they were before. Maybe.  
  
     But Kassim was fighting now. Fighting for the poverty-stricken children of Balbadd, for those living in the slums, and Alibaba _couldn't_ disagree with what he was doing. This was his city, after all, and to see it reduced to such wretchedness stirred something in him.  
  
     He joined the Fog Troupe and was made its leader for the sake of drawing public support. Magic Man Alibaba, on the side of the people, fighting the unjust system that wrote off so many as less than livestock. Kassim convinced him that in his position, Alibaba was the only one who could truly change their lives.  
  
     And then Kassim showed him the children of the slums—likely to strengthen Alibaba's resolve.  
  
     "Hey, partner. When we were kids, we struggled through life together down in the slums. Remember?"  
  
     It was like Kassim knew exactly what to say. As he looked at the happy expressions of the children, Alibaba remembered those days all too well.  
  
     Kassim turned to him with a rare openness on his face. "Please save them. Don't let them end up like Mariam!" He grasped Alibaba's shoulders tightly, digging his fingers in. "Please don't leave us, Alibaba!"  
  
     _Oh_.  
  
     "Fight by my side, just like when we were kids!"  
  
     _Kassim_.  
  
     Could he...want to go back…to those times? The times that when they were together, they were invincible...  
  
      Alibaba felt something in his chest stir as well as memories. On the day of his departure, he had been coming to realise something, that he had shut down as soon as Kassim coldly ordered him to leave.  
  
     But now he was here, how could he turn his back on them?  
  
     On Kassim?  


 

* * *

  
  
"Yo, Alibaba. Still a lightweight?"  
  
     Kassim wandered over to where Alibaba sat in the corner of the room, holding a half-empty bottle that was in the goods they had stolen from one of the merchant ships. As well as holding food and money, this shipment seemed to have specialised in alcohol, something the Fog Troupe were taking heady advantage of.  
  
     "No—I—I don't know." When Alibaba shook his head, it hurt. "I think."  
  
     "Only half a bottle?" Kassim scoffed, sitting down opposite him on a wooden crate, his own drink in hand.  
  
     "One and a half!" Alibaba retorted, pointing indignantly at the empty bottle at his right, belatedly realising he was actually waving his hand toward his left. "See—that!"  
  
     Kassim let out a strange laugh. "You're definitely drunk. Do you ever change?"  
  
     If he was sober, Alibaba might have heard the scornful edge in Kassim's words. Tipsy as he was, it all blurred over so all he really noticed was Kassim's golden eyes, crinkled in amusement.  
  
     "Your eyes are nice," he blurted, then flushed a dark, dark red.  
  
     Kassim stopped laughing and raised an eyebrow instead. "...Nice eyes won't pay for food."  
  
    "Y-Yeah, you're right." Alibaba looked down at the bottle, suddenly ashamed. He never thought things through. "I'm an idiot, aren't I?" he mumbled, more to himself than Kassim, and took another swig of alcohol.  
  
     "Only sometimes."  
  
     What a glorious reassurance. Alibaba scowled a little around the rim of the bottle. He needed some air.  
  
     Without thinking, he tossed back the rest of the bottle's contents and stood up, swaying, and almost fell over. Damn. He was drunker than he had thought.  
  
     "Alibaba!" Kassim had caught him as he fell and for a second all Alibaba did was blink up at him stupidly. It was kind of nice to see Kassim worried over him. Maybe he should try falling off a roof or something.  
  
     He tried to thank Kassim, but all that happened was a disgusting swirling feeling in his stomach. "Shit, I need to—"  
  
     "I'll help you out the back," Kassim said, putting Alibaba's arm around his shoulders so he could support him. "You're such an ass."  
  
     "Hey!"  
  
     Jeers and mockery, not stopped by Kassim (who seemed to support them) followed them as they ducked under the curtain over the exit that led into an alleyway. At this hour, what few occupants that were there were tucked up tight in the shadows, trying to catch what sleep they could.  
  
     Groaning, Alibaba leant against the cold stone wall and stared up at the night sky. A ribbing of thin dark clouds slid away from the moon, shedding light over them. He took a deep breath, then another, of the cold clear air.  
  
     "You'll be fine, yeah?" Kassim had his arms folded. "You might as well build up some alcohol tolerance if you'll be sticking around."  
  
     "I'll…be fine." Alibaba closed his eyes, feeling the knots in his chest loosen. "Hey, Kassim…"  
  
     "Hmm?"  
  
     Alibaba opened his eyes. Kassim was looking at him over his shoulder—he had been about to walk back inside. "I…I just…shit, never mind."  
  
     Ever since he had become partners with Kassim again, ever since they had spent more time with each other and talked…those old feelings had begun to return, and he had been afraid of them. The alcohol was doing something to lessen that fear, though, and the coldness of the night made everything surreal enough that it was like a dream. And in a dream, anything that happened would turn out okay, right?  
  
     So Alibaba told himself when he stepped forward, feeling displaced from his own body, and grabbed Kassim's collar.  
  
     "Alibaba." Kassim's eyes were dark. "What are you doing?"  
  
     Alibaba remained silent, instead moving back so his back hit the wall. Still holding onto Kassim's collar, he pulled him along so Kassim was crowding him against the stone.  
  
     "Alibaba," Kassim tried again, this time sounding uncharacteristically unsure of himself.  
  
     "Stop," said Alibaba, so quiet he wasn't sure if he even said it, but Kassim shut up.  
  
     Kassim was close to him, very close, but holding himself back just enough so their bodies didn't touch. The heat still gathered around them, almost electrifying in its potency, more dangerous than Amon's flames could ever achieve.  
  
     Only shakiness of Kassim's inhale betrayed how aware he was of their situation.  
  
     "Just," Alibaba said, and leaned upwards so their lips were almost touching, almost, but not quite.  
  
     "Why…why are you…" Kassim whispered. Alibaba sensed he still had the element of surprise and took advantage of it, brushing his mouth against Kassim's.  
  
     It was soft and it was warm against Kassim's lips, making Alibaba's heart point like a jackhammer. He wanted to open his mouth, but as soon as he felt Kassim start to kiss back, his friend pulled away.  
  
     They stared at each other under the moon's white light, and Alibaba realised that his hand had dropped from Kassim's clothes, but Kassim was still there. He wasn't running—Alibaba felt himself reach up again, but a strange look flickered across Kassim's face and he backed away, his fingers pressed to his mouth. And his head was shaking, a wordless _no_ louder than anything he could have shouted. He left in silence, leaving Alibaba shaking and cold and confused.  
  
     He knew Kassim felt it too. He _knew_.  
  
     So why…?  


 

* * *

  
  
The pain that exploded through his body when he drove the sword into his stomach was enormous. That fool, unable to kill him, still clinging onto his memories of their past.  
  
     When would he realise that there was nothing for him in Kassim now? There was nothing in Alibaba for Kassim either, because now he had made his choice to become a container of power.  
  
     "Come to me!"  
  
     Kassim felt a pulse of energy explode outward around him, calling the rest of the Fog Troupe's weapons to gather in the air. Steeling himself in his pain, he swung his sword out, commanding.  
  
     The shards of metal thudded into his skin, sinking into his body.  
  
     "A-Ah!" This pain was like nothing he had been expecting; it paled in comparison even to the gaping hole in his middle. His limbs were cracking, reshaping, twisting—he could feel something building around him from his flesh and taking him up—up—up—high above the ground…  
  
 _I'll be higher than you all._  
  
 _Especially you._  
  
     Suddenly the pain was gone, but he felt so…distant…so much of nothing…dimly, he was aware that his new body of a djinn was rampaging, pulling at the threads of the world, crumbling towers to dust beneath its magic and ripping people apart like paper between its claws. He couldn't see, no, but he was aware of his surroundings because of his body.  
  
     The way it was so easily destroying made him recall of his own suppressed rage. _If I could have released it…this is what it would have been like..._  
  
      A glimpse of blonde and awareness twitched. He—or was it the thing around him?—swiped at Alibaba, aiming to kill, and then he couldn't swipe anymore because his arm had been sliced right off.  
  
     The black rukh flocked when his body called for it. Kassim was aware that it was growing bigger and more powerful, able to destroy the palace and royals with one fell swoop, like he had always desired…  
  
     A scream erupted from his—its—lungs as something plunged into his neck. It was cold and foreign, the touch of a suppressant magic—had the body surrounding him been pierced? His body struggled and slashed at whatever was up on its head, and then it was _hot_.  
  
     A tortured yell and fire, fire, fire.  
  
     "Ali…baba?"  
  
     And then it was dark once again.  


 

* * *

  
  
_Why…why isn't it…_  
  
     It was like he was surrounded by sky.  
  
     A dark, heavy sky, overcast with blue-grey clouds, the dim fire of a weak sun on the distant horizon. Kassim had never felt so…listless. Weighed down.  
  
     When a shining star appeared above, he felt the darkness lie heavy on his lungs and wrap tighter around his heart. Ah, that familiar, bitter poison of resentment. He grasped onto it.  
  
     "Kassim, I want to speak with you."  
  
     Alibaba had always been so sickeningly naive. At first Kassim had wanted to keep him that way when they were kids, and then he despised him for it after Alibaba came out of the castle again and met with him. Even that kiss, likely come from a drunken haze, was born of naivety. Nothing as Alibaba imagined could ever be.  
  
     "I have nothing to say to you," was Kassim's expressionless response.  
  
     "Kassim—"  
  
     He was shining so brightly that Kassim felt the sense of worthlessness overwhelm him for a split second. He shoved it away, forcing himself to glare at Alibaba square in the face. "Are you that ignorant? Open your eyes—I hate you! Ever since we were kids!" Alibaba's look of shock spurred him on. "I wanted to see you despair!" _Despair as I have!_ "But you, damn you, you never lost your light!" He wanted to pound his fist into the ground, or into Alibaba's face.  
  
     Alibaba's shock had receded a little and was replaced by something else—something that Kassim didn't want to see.  
  
     Black rukh swarmed about him, bringing a jolt of pain to his skull. He clenched his hands in his hair in frustration. "Are we that different?" he spat. "I'm the only one in this darkness! Am I the only one who was born as nothing more than trash?"  
  
 _Yes…_  
  
     "The blood of your kind mother and the royal family…is in your veins," he said bitterly. "All I have is the blood of my worthless father. It figures," his hand slid off his face, falling limply at his side, darkness dripping, "that we'd be different. I learnt as a kid that's just how things are. Just how they are."  
  
 _I'll defy this filthy fate of mine._  
  
    "Isn't it unfair our lives are decided for us at birth?" He clenched his fist, meeting Alibaba's gaze. "I hate that. I _despise_ that—if that's my _fate_ , I'll fight it with my own hands!"  
  
     Darkness spread underfoot and shot upward like arrows from beneath Alibaba's feet.  
  
 _I won't accept it!_ The thoughts consumed Kassim and he bared his teeth. _You, always surrounded by light! Always! You could go where you wanted without fear, always living honestly!_  
  
     "—not true—"  
  
     Kassim felt his face contort. _It disgusts me to see what a good person you are!_  
  
     "That's _not true_!"  
  
     A fist thudded across his face and he staggered back, gasping. Alibaba was yelling, protesting about not thinking about royalty or blood, about how he had felt pathetic and had miserable days and Kassim couldn't think straight.  
  
     And then Alibaba shouted something that struck too close to home. "Don't make up crap about my life to justify yourself!"  
  
     Light spread outward from him with overwhelming force, making Kassim stumble back. "Shut up," he growled. If a fight was what Alibaba wanted, it was what he'd get. "Shut up, shut up!"  
  
     He felt the frustration in him coming to the bursting point. Of all people— "I won't lose to you!"  
  
     "This isn't _about_ winning or losing!" Alibaba screamed, and at the same time as Kassim swung a fist blinded by anger, Alibaba threw his own punch.  
  
     Their knuckles connected in a furious clash, each struggling to overpower the other. "We were both born in the slums," Alibaba shouted. "We tried to live the same way! We grew up the same way; we're both _just as dirty_! There's no difference!"  
  
 _Is that only meant to reassure yourself?!_  
  
     Kassim could only hear Alibaba's empty words, and all the _wrong wrong wrong_ that echoed in them. This boy, full of blessed light that drew others to him like moths to a flame, knew nothing about the world.  
  
     "People are different!" he ground out, and ducked beneath Alibaba's defences and swung a fist into his jaw, sending him flying back.  
  
  _I should show him just how different._ Kassim felt the black rukh gather at his feet as he looked down on Alibaba, who was flat on his back and helpless, who should be despairing but who was still shining beautifully—no!  
  
     "It makes sense," Kassim said flatly, more to himself but still intending for Alibaba to hear. "Everything—ability, appearance, and especially social status—is all decided from the moment we're born." He clenched his jaw. Mariam. "And for those of us who are born with _nothing_ …"  
  
    The black rukh flooded toward Alibaba and encircled him, and Kassim knew he was seeing the slums racked by disease, hearing the endless moans of the dying. Kassim's friends in the Fog Troupe, who had lost their loved ones so quickly. And Mariam…he remembered all too vividly her last feeble _'It hurts…Oniichan…'_ before her tiny hand slipped out of his and fell on the tattered carpet they used for a bed.  
  
     That had been the last time he had cried.  
  
     When he had come after the slums were burned, the masked man offering weapons was not seen as a blessing for Kassim, but a means. The man told them what they already knew, that the royalty was only on top because they exploited the people on the bottom. Once those underneath had filled their use, they were tossed aside like garbage.  
  
 _Curse your fate,_ he had said, and held out a sword.  
  
     The black rukh returned from Alibaba and converged on Kassim, forming that same sword. He knew what they had shown Alibaba, judging by that ever-present look of horror on his face. "That's right," he spat. "I can curse my fate. Even trash like me should be able to choose who to become!" _Like you. No, to be you!_ "Anyone should be able to be something great! Anyone!" he howled, and thrust the spear of rukh right into Alibaba's chest.  
  
     Alibaba's back arched and his mouth opened in a silent scream of agony. Kassim felt a humourless grin tug at his mouth as the boy slumped forward. _I got him,_ he thought, then almost fell back as a wave of sadness crashed over him. _Wh-what is that?_  
  
     There was a wetness on his cheeks. Aghast, he looked up to see Alibaba still hunched over the spear of black, but with his body shaking. He was _crying_.  
  
      Thoughts that weren't his own rushed into Kassim's mind, alongside the swirls of white rukh that flowed outward from Alibaba's wound. _Painful…pathetic…I never noticed Kassim felt like that…_  
  
     Kassim flinched at the outpouring of emotions, so unused to be on the receiving end of such raw sorrow. _Alibaba_ …  
  
 _I…probably did notice,_ Alibaba was admitting in his mind. _I was too afraid of saying that we were different…I ran from it._ He bowed his head further, tears dripping off his chin into his clothes, splashing on the rukh spear. The weapon burned bright and disintegrated into specks of light. _There may be as many differences as people, but that's—it's too unbelievably sad. There has to be a way for us to live together in happiness—there must be!_  
  
     Kassim lurched back, his black-stained hand falling uselessly against his side. Alibaba, who he had thought to be blissfully ignorant of the world around him… _He's thought about this. A way to deal with our differences._ He had always assumed, that Alibaba had wilfully ignored what always tormented Kassim so. That because he was above the people in the slums, he didn't care any longer what happened to them.  
  
     A strange weightlessness settled in his bones—resignation? _Maybe I should have just accepted my fate as 'unbelievably sad', because no matter how hard I reached, I could never be the same._  
  
     Alibaba, that flickering flame, always out of reach. Unattainable yet drawing Kassim to him in that compelling way he had. If Kassim had accepted their differences instead of violently rejecting his position, and lived his life to the best he could with what he was given...  
  
     Mistaken.  
  
     He had given so much. Worked so hard, made deals that couldn't be repaid, and turned his soul over to darkness. All for nothing.  
  
     Hopelessness rushed over him, bringing him to tears. "I tried to force myself to stand in your place," he admitted, feeling a gaping hollow open in his soul. _If I hadn't, if I hadn't, what would we be now? Would we be more? Oh, Alibaba..._  
  
     His tears fell freely to the sky under his feet, creating an endless ripple of light. It brightened everything it touched—including him. Was this what it felt like to heal?  
  
     It was kind of strange, he thought, looking at his glowing hand. So long used he had been to darkness, it felt like it was the hand of someone else.  
  
     There was a shattering behind him and he turned away from Alibaba to look. There in the sky white cracks had gathered, and they were calling to him. "The djinn is breaking apart," he murmured.  
  
     _Alibaba, you're hopeless when it comes to saving yourself, but when it comes to helping others…_ "Looks like our time together is up too," he said sadly, but with a smile.  
  
     "I came here to save you, Kassim!" Alibaba protested.  
  
   _Ah, you never lose hope, do you?_ "You've done enough," he said gently. "Damn, I feel bad leaving without apologising to the guys I dragged into this—my Fog Troupe as well." Turning back to Alibaba, he raised a hand to touch his cheek. "I should've talked with you more…"  
  
     Alibaba grabbed Kassim's hand, holding it tightly. "Don't go."  
  
     There was another cracking sound and looking back, Kassim saw there was now a hole of light in the sky. And it was calling, calling…with a gentle trace of his thumb over Alibaba's cheekbone, he let go and allowed himself to be pulled away.  
  
     "Kassim!" Alibaba called out from behind him. "Wait!"  
  
     "Hey, Alibaba," Kassim said, turning his head enough so he could see Alibaba's distraught face. Even in sadness he was still beautiful. "Are we…"  
  
     He couldn't find it in himself to finish the question. The rukh, however, chased the last remnants of darkness out of his heart and for the first time, he felt as if his hands weren't stained with blood.  
  
     Alibaba had faltered somewhere behind but Kassim heard his shout. "Why would you ask something like that?" His yell grew closer. "Of course we are!"  
  
     The desperation in his voice made Kassim resist the pull of the rukh and look back. Alibaba was hurtling toward him, one hand stretched out. "We're—"  
  
     Kassim felt the vestiges of his self slipping away and could only reach toward Alibaba with a smile on his face. _I'll be with you, idiot._  
  
     "—friends!"  
  
     And as Alibaba embraced him, Kassim felt himself fall into the light.  


 

* * *

  
  
"Kassim! _Kassim_!"  
  
 _I thought I could save you, bring you back! Why didn't you come back? Why, Kassim?!_  
  
     Kassim's body was coal black in Alibaba's arms, crumpled up and lifeless. He felt as though a hole had been ripped through his heart and all he could do was sob out his name.  
  
     He heard Aladdin's voice as if from far away. "Welcome back, Alibaba-kun."  
  
 _But Kassim didn't come back with me..._  
  
     "I'm sorry, Kassim," he choked out. "I couldn't save you. I couldn't do anything."  
  
     Kassim's body was so, so cold.  
  
     "Alibaba," came Aladdin's gentle voice. "You can't keep crying, or he won't be able to return."  
  
     "Return?" Only Alibaba's confusion stopped him from lashing out. "What?"  
  
     Aladdin pointed upward with his staff, and finally Alibaba noticed the great gathering of rukh streaming above them. "Those who die don't disappear," Aladdin told him. "They return to the great flow of rukh."  
  
     Alibaba watched in astonishment as the magic seal appeared on Aladdin's forehead and he called out ' _Solomon's Wisdom!_ ' and then there were Alibaba's _parents_.  
  
     "Okaasan?" he said brokenly. "And the king of Balbadd?"  
  
     "They're part of a much greater whole now," Aladdin said. "The flow of rukh that wraps around the world. Even though it's sad when people die, it's not an eternal goodbye."  
  
     Alibaba could only look at his parents in disbelief. He had forgotten how much he missed them.  
  
     "They are always watching over you."  
  
     He felt tears of happiness come to his eyes. As Aladdin called out something to the rukh, his mother walked over and kissed his brow. His father clasped his shoulder in a warm hand, smiling, before vanishing.  
  
     To see his brothers, Alibaba supposed. His mother gave him another kiss that he accepted gratefully before she disappeared, too.  
  
     What Aladdin had done was amazing, to say the least. From the rukh thousands of people were coming down, embracing their loved ones, tears of joy on either side. Such happiness…maybe Alibaba hadn't let down everyone after all.  
  
     A burst of light caught his attention. "Mariam!"  
  
     The little girl was floating in the air, smiling impossibly wide. Alibaba remembered that smile from days long past. His heart had never felt so full as it did when Mariam beckoned to him, and whispered into his ear. "Oniichan wants to say something to you!"  
  
     Oniichan…?  
  
     Mariam giggled and walked a little ways away, her hand on her hip and a cheeky grin on her face. And she was holding hands with someone.  
  
     Hardly daring to believe it, Alibaba looked up.  
  
     "You," he breathed. "You—" He couldn't finish the sentence when fresh tears started pouring down his face.  
  
     Kassim was there.  
  
     As if in a dream, Alibaba got to his feet. Kassim was smiling gently; Alibaba had never seen him look so happy. Raising a hand, he rested his palm against Kassim's face. Kassim leaned into the touch, closing his eyes for a moment.  
  
     Alibaba choked on a sob. "I miss you." He wasn't just talking about Kassim's death, he also meant the connection they could have deepened in their time together.  
  
     From the look in Kassim's eyes when he opened them and touched Alibaba's hand, he knew. Without speaking, he moved forward, and, grasping onto Alibaba's forearms, leaned down and kissed him.  
  
     Kassim's lips were light and warm, and even though it was a chaste kiss, it sent a bolt of electricity through Alibaba's veins. He didn't know if there were any onlookers, but at this point he didn't really care.  
  
     "Oniichan," said Mariam, and they broke apart slowly. "Oniichan," she said again, tugging at Kassim's hand. Kassim looked past Alibaba, beyond him, and Alibaba saw his face fill with hope and joy.  
  
     "You have to go, don't you?" Alibaba asked helplessly.  
  
     Kassim looked back at him with such kindness Alibaba felt himself cracking. He leant his forehead on Alibaba's, whispering, "I'll be here," his fingertips pressing to Alibaba's chest.  
  
     Mariam waved happily to Alibaba and leapt forward into the air, pulling her brother behind her. Kassim cast a smile over his shoulder as they both floated up, amongst the others, rejoining the rukh.  
  
     Alibaba's chest ached with bittersweet happiness as they left. But instead of crying as he might have done, he pressed his fingertips to his lips and let his emotions simply flood his heart.  


 

* * *

  
  
_I will always watch over you._  
  
     The redness of Alibaba's earring glinted in the sun and he touched his hand to it.  
  
 _I will always…be with you._  
  
     He sighed quietly, his arms clasping around his knees. The cliffside he was sitting on was grassy and had a view of the ocean's wide expanse. It was times like this—when he was in solitude, alone with his thoughts—that he thought he could feel someone settling beside him in the light of the setting sun.  
  
 _I will always…_  
  
     A boy's joyfully smiling face and outstretched hand flashed before his eyes and Alibaba thought he heard a loud, happy laugh. He straightened with a jolt, looking left and right in confusion. "What was that?" he mumbled to himself.  
  
     A breeze blew through his hair, ruffling it much the same way a gentle hand would. Suddenly Alibaba's chest was filled with much more loneliness than he thought possible. This feeling would come across him every now and again without warning, when he least expected it. Usually, though, when he was somewhere where he felt another person should be with him.  
  
     Kassim.  
  
     He missed him so much. Despite the trials Kassim's death had strengthened him to overcome—fighting in the Leam Colosseum, fusing the magoi within him, achieving a Full Djinn Equip, defeating the Medium that spelled the earth's doom—there was a space to his side that should have been filled with the warm presence of a person a bit taller than him, with long, dreadlocked hair and a teasing grin. Sometimes, although he sensed Kassim in the invisible rukh that Aladdin assured him of, he felt so empty it hurt.  
  
     It would wear off eventually. It always did.  
  
 _'Hey, Alibaba, are we…'_  
  
     Alibaba's hands clenched at the sentence that was never finished, but he knew what Kassim would have asked.  
  
     "Of course we're friends," he muttered absently. "We're more than friends, you idiot."  
  
 _…love you._  
  
  


 

 

**Author's Note:**

> i cry
> 
> come bully me @[rincentric](http://rincentric.tumblr.com)
> 
> [sorry if it was ooc]


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